A US Navy guided-missile destroyer yesterday sailed within 12 nautical miles (22km) of an island claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam in the South China Sea, in an operation the Pentagon said was aimed at challenging efforts to restrict freedom of navigation.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than US$5 trillion of world trade is shipped every year. Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines have rival claims to all or portions of the region.
Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said no ships from China’s military were in the vicinity of the USS Curtis Wilbur when it passed near Triton Island (Jhongjian Island, 中建島) in the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島).
Photo: EPA
“This operation challenged attempts by the three claimants — China, Taiwan and Vietnam — to restrict navigation rights and freedoms,” Davis said, reflecting the US position that the crucial sea lane should be treated as international waters.
The US Navy conducted a similar exercise in October last year, in which the guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen sailed close to one of China’s artificial islands, drawing a rebuke from Beijing.
Davis said the latest operation sought to challenge policies that require prior permission or notification of transit within territorial seas. He said the US took no position on competing sovereignty claims to naturally formed land features in the South China Sea.
“No claimants were notified prior to the transit, which is consistent with our normal process and international law,” Davis said.
The operation followed calls in the US Congress for the administration of US President Barack Obama to follow up on the October operation.
This month, US Senate Committee on Armed Services chairman John McCain was critical of Obama for delaying further freedom of navigation patrols.
He said the delay allowed China to continue to pursue its territorial ambitions in the region.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the warship had violated Chinese law by entering its territorial waters.
“The American warship has violated relevant Chinese laws by entering Chinese territorial waters without prior permission, and the Chinese side has taken relevant measures including monitoring and admonishments,” the ministry said in a statement.
The transit by the Curtis Wilbur followed a trip by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) on Thursday.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency as well as long-term residency in Taiwan has decreased, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that the reduction of Chinese spouses staying or living in Taiwan is only one facet reflecting the general decrease in the number of people willing to get married in Taiwan. The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency last year was 7,123, down by 2,931, or 29.15 percent, from the previous year. The same census showed that the number of Chinese spouses applying for long-term residency and receiving approval last year stood at 2,973, down 1,520,
RSS